A Nerftastic Birthday

Last month my oldest boy reached the ripe old age of 12 and to celebrate we threw him a super duper Nerftastic birthday party. You see, all Sparky wanted to do for his birthday was to have a big Nerf war and since I am a super fun mom (sometimes) I indulged his request. It all started with an amazing display of clearanced Nerf guns that I happened to come across at Target one day this summer. Sparky had been begging for a Nerf party and I just kept shrugging him off and suggesting alternative party ideas, but when I saw this end cap filled with super cheap, enormous Nerf guns, I knew that my boy had won the battle and that a Nerf war would take place. 

Here he is anxiously awaiting the start of the party.

Unbeknownst to the birthday boy, we employed the help of a guy in our ward who just happens to be part of the military. He came in all decked out in his fatigues and acted as party starter/Drill Sargent. It was awesome. He played the part very well and scared the boys into submission with his loud and  commanding voice. It was hilarious to watch the boys' faces as our military friend started shouting commands at these innocent little pansies. They didn't know what to think, but quickly learned that this was war and this guy meant business.

"ATTENTION!!"

"Line up!!"

"Drop and give me 20!!"



Once the military drills were over the boys were ready for the real fun which was the unveiling of the artillery. We had the stack of Nerf guns covered up and so most of the boys had no idea what was coming their way. Sadly, I did not get a picture of the stack of guns, but it was impressive and the expressions on the boys faces when the guns were unveiled and they were told that the guns were theirs to keep,was priceless.

Each boy grabbed a gun and then spent a few minutes personalizing their weapons with Sharpie markers so that they knew whose was whose at the end of the party. We then drew names and divided the boys up into two teams.

Here we have team Alpha.

Team Bravo

Briefing time with the rules and boundaries being given.

Captain: Team Alpha

This little man totally thought he was part of the party and since he was so cute, no one was willing to challenge him.

Yep, that's sheer joy on my boy's face.

Doug even built a bunker for the teams to use as their base and Sparky had fun painting it like camouflage to the best of his ability.

Halfway through the party we paused for pizza and homemade root beer. These boys sure worked up an appetite and the root beer was a HUGE crowd pleaser. But then again, what's not to like about homemade root beer?

Gearing up for another battle.

Doug thought it would be fun to do a skills test and so he threw tennis balls up in the air to see if any of the boys could hit one with their darts. I don't know if any of them actually did hit a ball without cheating, but they certainly gave it a good go.

Finally it was time to open presents. Sparky got all kinds of things a 12 year old could want.

We ended the party with giant yellow cupcakes with chocolate frosting and ice cream and when it was all over the boys were all totally sweaty, worn out, and stuffed with sugar. There is no way this party could have been better.